Hat tree



.iuy 22 l1924.

G. 1E. DouGHTY HAT TREE Filed Jan. 17, 1922v IN VEN T v0R f 4, A from/EYs.

retain the shape.

Patented duly 22, 1924.

iran STATES g .iscazw GEORGE E. DO'UGI-ITY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

f, 'HAT TREE.

Application led January 17, 1922. Serial No. 529,870.

To all lw/wm t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. DOUGHTY, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a certain new and useful Hat Tree, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to a device adapted to be placed in a hat topreserve the latter in sha-pe 4when not being worn, and has for itsobjects to provide such a device which is capable ofbeing adjustedto'fit and engage the sweatV band in a hat having a head opening of anyconfiguration', which will be vlight in construction Vwhereby its weightwill not affect the shape of any partof the hat; which will be cheap ofmanufacture; which will not get out of order, and which may be adjustedwithout the use of tools. i

Theseand further objects will more fully appear in the followingspecification and accompanying drawing considered together orseparately.

Stili hats such as Vderbies, silk hats and strawhats, are usually fittedto conform to the shape of the head of the wearer, and as long as theyare worn day after day may When the hat yis laid aside for a more orless considerable period of time it will warp out of shapeV owingv tothe drying out of moisture, or v.to kother causes, andsuch warping willnot ,only destroy the contour of the head openingbut will warp the brim,particularly in-straw hats, outfof shape, and render the hat worthless@f By applying the device of my invention to the hat and in engagementwith lthe sweat band, the device willengagethe entire circumference ofthe hea-d.k opening and prevent any changer in the contour thereof.,

With the device in place the hatl need not be stored away resting on itsbrim, but

it may be hung on a hook or the like, whereby economy of vspace will besecured.y y

I have' illustrated one embodimenty of my invention in theaccompanying.drawings,in

which like parts in all vof the severalgigures, are designated byfcorrespondingcharacters in reference, and infwhich p Fig. 1 is a planview of thedevi'ce. Fig. 2is a side elevation of the same.

l of

on the line 3,3.

4 is a sectionV on the line 4l,

T5 is ay sectionk on the line 5, 5 of sectionl on the line 6, 6 of .bandformed on twoarch-shaped members 8 and 9 each formed of a curved stripof thin, flexible materia-l, such as metal, celluloid 1or thek like. Thefree ends of the members overlap as shown, and the overlapping ends ofthe member 9.are in engagement withr the inner sideof the member 7 asshown, whereby a moreor y less oval band is produced..

The free endsfof the member?) are'each yprovided .with` an elongatedyslot, ,10 extending longitudinally thereof, and theinner end ment 11, asshown.

Secured to the center of the of each slot is provided withvr anenlargeinner side of the arch of the member 9, by rivetingor otherwise,is a bar 12 of preferablyV rectangular cross'isection extendinglongitudinally of the. band, the extremity of the bar'oppos'ite thesecuredend being free. A similar bar 13 is secured 'to themember y,8 inalineinentfwith the bar 12 and rests upon saidlatter boar.

TThe bars712 and 13 ypass throughopenings 20 in the. sides of atrough-shaped fitting `Secured to ,the member` 8 and. extending at rightangles to the bars 12 and 13 yare two similar but shorter bars 15 yand16 each of whichr is riveted to the member 8 and extend yinward inopposite directions,

one resting on the other. .Each of the, bars 15 and 16r extends througha slot 10 near `its point of 'attachmenty to the-member 8, f and bothyof said, bars pass through thelitting 14 between the base thereof andthe bars12 and 13. t

A screw 17 threaded into the .K base ofthe fitting :engages the bar 15y'andis provided with a wing head 18 whereby, the same may be rotated toclamp the bars 12,13, 15 and "ie together` ,and` in. the fitting ,'14 atAthe pointr of crossingof thebars.- j, l

section on the line 7, y7 of,

A portion 19 of each end of the member 8 is struck up therefrom andinward and projects through each slot 10. The portions 19 are kwiderthan the slots and overlap the edges thereof-whereby the sides of themember 8 are held in contact with the sides of the member 9, andmovements of the members toward and away from each other Y tion 19 isropposite an enlargement 11. The

portions 19 will enter the enlargements 11, and when the? arch-shapedmembers are moved longitudinally away from each other the portions 19will engage the walls of the i memberV 9 at'the sides of the slots 10and prevent the adjoining ends'of the members from springing apart. Y

In operation the screw 17 is backed out a shortdistance, andthe bars 12,13, and

16 are released from rigid engagement with each "other and with` thefitting (14e. L The members 8 and 9 are separated longitudinally untilthe center of the arch of the member 9 engages the front of the head Cilopening ofthe hat, and the center of the arch formed by the member 9engages the point at the diametrically opposite side of the headopening, the bars 12 and 13 sliding in the openings in the sides of thefitting 14, and the portions 19 slidingin the slots 10, 10. The rods 15and 16 are then moved f' apart untilthe sides of the band engage thesides of the head opening.Y

The rod 13 ispulled through lt-he fitting to Va greater Vextent than isthe rod 112'whereby the arch crown of the band member 8 will be furtherfrom the crossrods 15 and 16V than is'the crown of the member 9, and

these latter rods will extend across the band at. the widest portion ofthe head opening. By varying .the distance to which each rod @iswithdrawn from the fitting, 111, the band,

as a whole, may be made to conform to the exact shape of any hat. Whenthe band is in contact with all Joints within .the head opening, thescrew 1 is tightened, the bars 12, 13, l5 and 16 are securely clamped together and to the iittingrll, and: thev hat willbe prevented 'fromchanging its shape lbecause of heat, moisture or. for any otherV reason.Y i Y Y Y A In accordance with the provisionsof the patent statutes theprinciple ofthe invention has been described, together `with theapparatus whichv is now considered to :represent the bestVembodim'entthereoi butrit 1is.desired to have it understood that theapparatus shown is merely illustrative, and that the invention may becarried out in other ways. y

The invention having been described, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent, is

1. A devi-ce Yof Athe character;described, comprising` an endless bandformed of a pair of Vopposed flexible, arched members, the open end ofone member engaging within the Yopen end of the o-ther member, means forpreventing separation of the members, said means permitting movementofthe members to-ward and away from each other, a frame comprising twoelements crossing each other at rightangles and resting one upon theother, the ends of the elements being secured to the band, means forvarying the lengths of the elements, and means engaging the elements onewith the other for securing the same'together.

2. A device of lthe character described, comprising an endless bandformed of a pair of opposed, flexible, arched members, the open end ofone member engaging within the open end of the other member, means forpreventing separation of the members, said means permitting movement ofthe members toward and away from reach other, a frame comprising twoelements crossing .each other at right angles and restingone upon theother, the ends of the elementsbeing secured to the band, means forvarying the lengths of the elements, each element comprising two barsresting one upon theYV other, one end of each bar being free of theband, and means for clamping allvof the bars together at the point ofintersection of the elements. y3. A device. of thek character described,comprising an endless bandfformed of a pair -of opposed, iiexible,archedmembers, the

open end of one member engaging within vthe open end of they othermember, means 'for preventing lseparation of the members,

'said means permittingV movementY of the A members `toward and away fromeach other, a frame comprising twoelements crossing each other at rightangles and restingione upon the other, the ends of the Yelements Ybeingsecured to the band, means for vary- Y ing the lengths of theelements,each element -comprising two lbars resting one upon 4the other,one end of each bar being free jof the band, a fitting enclosing theelements `at the intersection thereof, said elementsVV passing freely'Ythrough the fitting, fand means for clamping all ofthe bars 4'togetherand tothe fitting at the point of intersection of the elements. '1 Y LAdevice of the characterdescribed,V

comprising an endless lband Yformed'of a pair of opposed, flexiblearched members, the open end of one member engaginglwith the open end ofthe other member, means for preventingseparation of the members,

1,502,297 Y v Q said means permitting movement of the members toward andaway from each other, a frame comprising two elements crossing eachother at right angles and resting one upon the other the ends of theelements being secured to the band, means for varying the lengths of theelements, each element comprising two bars resting one upon the other,one end of each bar being free of the band, a fitting enclosing theelements at the intersection thereof, said elements passing freelythrough the fitting, and a screw for clamping all of the bars togetherand to the tting at the point of intersection of the elements.

5. A device of the character described, comprising `an endless blandcomposed of two opposed arch shaped members of flexible material, thesides of one member fitting within and engaging the sides of the secondmember, there being an `elongated slot in each side of the irstmentioned member, means carried by the second member and passing throughthe slots to prevent separation of fthe member, a bar secured in thecrown of each member and extending toward the crown of the other member,one end of each bar being free, said bars being parallel and resting oneupon the other for a portion at least of their length, a bar secured toeach side of the second member and extending inwardly through the slotsin the first member, one end of each of said last mentioned bars beingfree and said bars resting one upon the other for a portion at least oftheir length, said bars crossing the first mentioned bars at rightangles, and means engaging the topi and bottom bars for securing all ofthe bars together at the point of intersection of the bars.

6. A device of *the character described,

ber, means integral with the second member and passing Ithrough theslots to prevent separation of the members, va bar secured in the crownof each member and extending toward the crown of the other member, oneend of each bar being free, said bars being parallel and resting oneupon the other for a portion at least of their length, a bar secured toeach side of the second member and extendinginwardly through the slotsin the first member, one end of each of said last mentioned bars beingfree and said bars resting one upon Ithe other for a portion at least oftheir length, said bars crossing the first mentioned bars at rightangles, a tting having right angle passages therethrough, the firstmentioned bars passing through one passage, the second mentioned barspassing through the other passage at the intersecting point, saidpassages being in communication and a single screw for securing allofthe bars together and to the fitting at the point of intersect-ion ofthe bars.

This specification signed and witnessed this fourteenth day of January,1922.

GEORGE E. DOUGHTY. Witnesses:

SAMUEL BROWN, WILLIAM ALLAN, J r.

